Delta Mini-Theater
is a series of comedic shorts included with the Macross Δ DVD and Blu-ray releases, featuring (mostly) super-deformed versions of the main cast. The 9 episodes revolve around three recurring segments: Mirage's Diary, Onward! Aerial Knights and Day-to-day Xaos. Segment Overview * : Mirage chronicles her daily experiences which often end up as embarrassing ones because of various factors, but mostly due to her own character flaws. * : Shows the interactions of the Aerial Knights during downtimes at Windermere. Unlike the Xaos members, they are not depicted in SD, represented instead as static profiles with facial expressions almost never changing and runes constantly moving. * : Highlights the chaotic interactions between Delta Flight and Walküre members during idle times. Character quirks are also given the spotlight here, as well as some little-known in-universe tidbits. Episodes Volume 1 Act 1: Mirage's Diary 1 DeltaMT V1 01.jpg DeltaMT V1 02.jpg Mirage is secretly envious of Freyja's instant popularity with the stray Mercats in the neighborhood, since she's been there longer but none of them have taken a shine to her at all. She soon suspects that it may have something to do with the rune. With this in mind, Mirage rushes to the coast with fake rune accessories hoping it would achieve the desired effect on a mob of Mercats, but they all run away from her instead. Mirage concludes that the rune had nothing to do with it. Act 2: Onward! Aerial Knights 1 DeltaMT V1 03.jpg DeltaMT V1 04.jpg DeltaMT V1 05.jpg Theo and Xao excitedly report to Bogue that they intercepted some top secret information from Xaos using their family company connections, recorded in of all things, a VHS Tape. Using a tape player and CRT TV, they watch the recording which shows details about the basic equipment of Walküre, which are entirely powered by science and not magic (according to Reina, who was in charge of narration along with Kaname). The three come to a consensus that the gas-jet cluster usage is a novel concept, but resembled a rather unpleasant bodily reflex. Due to some rather "revealing" content, they all end up getting nosebleeds by the closing moments of the video. Act 3: Mirage's Diary 2 DeltaMT V1 06.jpg DeltaMT V1 07.jpg DeltaMT V1 08.jpg Mirage gets a letter from her grandfather requesting autographs of the Walküre members. Unfortunately, her reserved nature makes it a bit of a tall order. After seeing that Chuck was able to get a full set, Mirage musters up the courage to ask them, starting with Mikumo. Instead of a "signed" piece of paper, she gets "hand signs" from the latter. Mirage concludes that she did get a sign, though not one that she could send to her grandfather. Volume 2 Act 1: Onward! Aerial Knights 2 DeltaMT V2 01.jpg DeltaMT V2 02.jpg DeltaMT V2 03.jpg Theo and Xao show Bogue the second volume of top-secret information regarding Walküre equipment, focusing on the functional fashion accessories this time. Jussila-brand tissues were readied in case of possible nosebleeds. Off-hand, the anti-piracy warning stated by Reina in the beginning was directed towards certain individuals who were watching it in a dark castle using a VHS tape and getting nosebleeds over it. After that the show goes into full detail about the aforementioned equipment, some of them with cutesy and not-so-cutesy names. The trio think about naming press-on nails after the White Knight, but almost immediately reconsider since it's not cutesy at all. To sum up what the three learned from the tape: To become particular about cutesy names for products and to fight over who was the intended recipient of Mikumo's flying kiss. Act 2: Day-to-day Xaos 1 DeltaMT V2 04.jpg DeltaMT V2 05.jpg DeltaMT V2 06.jpg Freyja talks Mirage into becoming a member of Walküre for a day, with Kaname helping out by saying that trying out cute clothes while one's age and appearance allows for such leeway is important lest one regrets it. Despite her reservations, Mirage was eventually convinced (or rather, forced) to give it a shot, putting on the skin-suit and device that can generate the costume. Though the others find her gorgeous, Mirage herself was deathly embarrassed and dreaded the possibility of Hayate and the others seeing her in this state. As if on cue, Reina emerges from her hiding spot on the wall and takes "precious" photos of Mirage in costume for posterity, later finding herself pursued by their newest member to have those photos deleted. Freyja and Kaname could only shrug since Mirage shouldn't really be embarrassed about how she looked. Volume 3 Act 1: Day-to-day Xaos 2 DeltaMT V3 01.jpg DeltaMT V3 02.jpg DeltaMT V3 03.jpg Out of the blue, Hayate starts to wonder what kind of company Xaos is. Talking about it with Mirage and Freyja was going nowhere since they only know about as much as he does. To this end, they ask Kaname, but even she doesn't know the full extent of Xaos' coverage, other than the fact that it was a jack-of-all-trades company with a myriad of departments and still expanding further. The explanation gets derailed when she starts to talk about Messer accidentally being assigned to the Food Delivery Department in the planet Varna instead of his actual role as an aircraft quality inspector due to a communication error. Since he was there, Messer himself reluctantly continued telling the story. As a result of the mishap, he became a pizza deliveryman for the duration of his assignment. He did the job so well that the Food Delivery Department passionately appealed to the Military Provider Department to facilitate Messer's permanent transfer, but was obviously denied. The latter info, considered a legend among Xaos staff was courtesy of Reina, who happened to be passing by. Though he got a good laugh at this tidbit, Hayate still didn't get his question answered in the end. For her part, Mirage cannot look at Messer straight in the eye for a long time afterwards. Act 2: Onward! Aerial Knights 3 DeltaMT V3 04.jpg DeltaMT V3 05.jpg DeltaMT V3 06.jpg Theo and Xao show Bogue a new tape containing top-secret information, this time regarding Xaos' Variable Fighters. Bogue couldn't hide his disappointment that is was not about Walküre, but they all watch it anyway as usual. When the part about the VF-31 Siegfried becoming stronger from Fold Receptor Bio-Wave songs was shown, the Jussila Brothers cry copyright infringement since it was an alleged rip-off of the Wind Song effect and swore to take it up with their family's company as soon as possible. Off-hand, Bogue comments about how the two were taking info-gathering seriously for once. Naturally, Makina was the one in charge of the explanation for the VFs and was considering changing into a cutesy swimsuit halfway through before resuming. The three knights braced themselves in anticipation for it but were foiled by Reina's anti-piracy measure that not only hid Makina's appearance, but also cut the footage short. Volume 4 Act 1: Mirage's Diary 3 DeltaMT V4 01.jpg DeltaMT V4 02.jpg DeltaMT V4 03.jpg Mirage accidentally finds an online video of Kaname's early stint as an idol, doing of all things, a televised scalding water bath. Though she felt that she saw something she shouldn't have, Mirage wanted to watch it again, unaware that Kaname caught her initial viewing session and arranged to have the video deleted. Mirage concludes that the video could not be played again after that. Off-hand, Messer seemed to be an avid viewer of said video and was visibly disappointed when it was taken down. Act 2: Onward! Aerial Knights 4 DeltaMT V4 04.jpg DeltaMT V4 05.jpg DeltaMT V4 06.jpg Theo and Xao are seen actively communicating with their runes, brainstorming a catchphrase that would promote the Jussila Company to extend its influence beyond Windermere. They later show it Bogue, who was not impressed in the least. Undaunted by the lukewarm response, the Jussila Brothers quickly changed the subject and brought out another video tape. It turned out to be a prior recording of the same lame advertisement the they acted out a while ago and not intel from Xaos nor Walküre. Bogue turns off the TV, obviously peeved at them both. Act 3: Day-to-day Xaos 3 DeltaMT V4 07.jpg DeltaMT V4 08.jpg DeltaMT V4 09.jpg Hayate and the others wonder if Messer has ever smiled a day in his life. None of them have ever seen him that way, so they decide to hold a contest to see who can elicit that expression, with the winners to be granted a free dinner at Ragnyannyan courtesy of Chuck. All their attempts prove futile; Reina and Makina's weiner dance, Freyja's hard-to-comprehend Windermerean joke and Mikumo's eerie wiggle while doing her usual "W" gesture didn't even make Messer bat an eye, much less Mirage and Hayate's uninspired pincer attack. In the end, the only time that Messer really smiles is while he's discussing how to train and improve his juniors in Delta Flight with Kaname. No more, no less. Volume 5 Act 1: Mirage's Diary 4 DeltaMT V5 01.jpg DeltaMT V5 02.jpg DeltaMT V5 03.jpg Mirage runs into Hayate by chance while taking Q-lulu out for a walk late at night and tried to keep it together despite sheer embarrassment on being seen wearing what she describes as "revealing clothing" (sweat pants and a tank top). Mikumo emerges on the same street soon after, her own outdoor wardrobe much more revealing by comparison. Mirage concludes that she can wear that too but does a double-take almost immediately, deeming it impossible by her personal standards. She still imagines how it would go nonetheless. Act 2: Onward! Aerial Knights 5 DeltaMT V5 04.jpg DeltaMT V5 05.jpg DeltaMT V5 06.jpg Theo and Xao are again seen actively communicating with their runes, brainstorming a new product that would set a new trend for glasses and attract sales via their local fashion icon Roid, who has a considerable collection of glasses to match specific times, places and occasions. For his part, Bogue never really noticed that until the Jusilla Brothers pointed it out. When asked what design would suit Roid's discriminating taste, Bogue suggests a Draken III motif (Fighter Mode), with Lil Drakens attached as sub-lenses. The brothers are vocal in their surprise that someone like Bogue can come up with that, but without giving him time to acknowledge it as an insult, the two rush to develop a prototype right away. Two products were made using the suggested Draken III theme, but in Gerwalk and Battroid Mode... not exactly what Bogue had in mind. Roid bought a pair anyway, so the objective was met. Act 3: Day-to-day Xaos 4 DeltaMT V5 07.jpg DeltaMT V5 08.jpg DeltaMT V5 09.jpg DeltaMT V5 10.jpg DeltaMT V5 11.jpg Chuck gathers Hayate, Mirage and all the Walküre members to help him come up with a new salable menu item for Ragnyannyan, since he acquired a voluminous amount of sale-priced jellyfish and needs them eliminated ASAP. Unfortunately, almost nobody was able to come up with anything good; Kaname's Shiokara was passable at best, Reina insisted on serving them raw, Makina used a combination of pink sauces that were not pleasing to the palate, Freyja can only make things using apples and Mikumo practically created a monster. Hayate then suggested using the jellyfish as a component of curry, since it's common knowledge that you can never go wrong with that. Chuck asks Mirage to do the honors... ...that same day, Xaos acquired a new weapon of mass destruction, more potent than Reaction weaponry. Volume 6 Act 1: Mirage's Diary 5 DeltaMT V6 01.jpg DeltaMT V6 02.jpg DeltaMT V6 03.jpg Mirage laments the loss of her Jellyfish Pudding from Delta Flight's common refrigerator, suspecting that it was Hayate who took it. When she confronts him directly, he denies even touching the thing, but Mirage did not believe him at all. Realizing that forgetting to write her name on the container was a personal management error, she resolves to do it next time. Mirage concludes that her Jellyfish Pudding still disappeared despite the name tag but remains convinced of Hayate's guilt. In fact, she has subsequently lost 3 of them in the days that followed (bringing the grand total to 5) and never even realized that Mikumo was actually the culprit in all counts. Act 2: Onward! Aerial Knights 6 DeltaMT V6 04.jpg DeltaMT V6 05.jpg DeltaMT V6 06.jpg Bogue catches Theo and Xao watching the Walküre TV channel. When he saw that (the traitor) Freyja was the host, Bogue lost his temper, evident by his rune flashing red. The brothers warn him that his rune is out of control and that he should calm down. Bogue retorts that the two aren't really in a position to say that given that their own runes are moving like crazy. After easing up, Bogue watches the show with them. Freyja starts her little feature regarding Windermerean runes but becomes embarrassed when the camera focuses on her own, calling the cameraman a pervert. Suspecting that De Runes (people without runes) may get the wrong idea and develop misguided erotic associations about them, Bogue calls the show using a rotary-dial phone and shares his encyclopedic knowledge of what a rune really is, starting with common information up to little-known facts to ensure 100% clarification. Unfortunately, Bogue was not able to finish his in-depth explanation because Keith forced him to hang up. Act 3: Mirage's Diary 6 DeltaMT V6 07.jpg DeltaMT V6 08.jpg DeltaMT V6 09.jpg To improve her performance and timing in air shows, Mirage decided to listen to some Walküre songs in her spare time, but takes the lyric parts of "selfish kiss" and "a kiss faster than light" a little too literally. Mirage even acts them out based on her assumptions, unaware that Mikumo was watching her from behind. Mirage concludes by stating that the next time she ran into Mikumo, the latter was grinning at her for some reason. Volume 7 Act 1: Mirage's Diary 7 DeltaMT V7 01.jpg DeltaMT V7 02.jpg DeltaMT V7 03.jpg Freyja requests Mirage to sing a song for her, since the former is curious if her voice is as good as Mylene of Fire Bomber. Unfortunately, Mirage can't do it because she's too embarrassed to perform in front of other people unlike her famous aunt. Mikumo sternly scolds her over this, insisting that she has nothing to be embarrassed about. Mirage concludes that Mikumo could use a little shame herself, because the latter did the scolding while wearing a very revealing swimsuit. Act 2: Onward! Aerial Knights 7 DeltaMT V7 04.jpg DeltaMT V7 05.jpg DeltaMT V7 06.jpg Bogue decides to watch the Walküre TV channel by himself. The on-air feature shows Freyja, Makina and Kaname talking with Reina. Makina recalls how her best friend slowly opened up to people after a long period of being taciturn. Reina felt that face-to-face communication was unnecessary and talked to everyone (even her parents) via chat message in the past. Freyja and Bogue seem to be in synch expressing their confusion over it, but only Bogue mutters a comeback when Reina described her current self as "eloquent". As if hearing the mumblings, Reina confronts Bogue from the other end of the TV, saying that he doesn't really know her well enough to make those comments. The knight started to panic over this until Reina revealed that it was merely a scripted potshot aimed at pirate viewers. Makina wasted no time in doing some advertising, saying that legitimate and paying subscribers to the channel are guaranteed to get bonus footage. Bogue hurriedly approached Hermann and asked for permission to get a paid subscription to Walküre TV for purposes of reconnaissance. Needless to say, it was not Hermann's decision to make. Act 3: Day-to-day Xaos 5 DeltaMT V7 07.jpg DeltaMT V7 08.jpg DeltaMT V7 09.jpg Hayate, Mirage and Freyja wonder if Ragnyannyan is connected to Nyan-Nyan, the now over 100-year old restaurant franchise. Chuck answers that his is just an independent and humble 15-year old establishment specializing in Jellyfish dishes for the locals, with only the name being coincidentally similar. They start to think that it's more of a rip-off than coincidence, especially Freyja who notices that the Jellyfish Bun closely resembles the Tuna Bun, a well-known Nyan-Nyan specialty. Chuck quickly offered her two for free as a practical bribe to stop talking about it, defending his shop by saying that since there have been no copyright infringement claims nor a Nyan-Nyan restaurant in Ragna, it means that his outfit may have been recognized, accepted and maybe even "feared", as he jokingly puts it. As if on cue, Arad shows up and tells Chuck that according to Xaos intel, the Nyan-Nyan company plans to open its first branch on the planet sometime soon. Chuck is thrown into a panic by this development, confirming the suspicions of the others. Volume 8 Act 2: Onward! Aerial Knights 8 DeltaMT V8 01.jpg DeltaMT V8 02.jpg DeltaMT V8 03.jpg Bogue seeks out Kassim to ask if it's actually possible to make runes move around like what he observed during prior interactions with the Jussila Brothers. Kassim says that it can be done, though it has no practical use and would usually invoke the ire of the average Windermerean parent. In between his responses and rabid consumption of apples, Kassim offers one after another to Bogue, which the latter consistently declines. While on the subject of bad habits, Kassim mentions that another one common in his home village was nibbling on one's own rune (which Freyja also mentioned in a past segment). Bogue was convinced that there was nobody like that among them, but was forced to take it back after catching Theo and Xao in the act. Kassim himself also had that habit, much to Bogue's dismay. Act 3: Day-to-day Xaos 6 DeltaMT V8 04.jpg DeltaMT V8 05.jpg DeltaMT V8 06.jpg The senior members of Xaos express their surprise over finding out Mikumo's real identity. Chuck in particular was relieved that the top vocalist's origins were not as far out as what he had imagined, like a jellyfish given human form for instance (based on her hairstyle and penchant for swimming at night). Mikumo overhears the conversation and decides to use Chuck's odd theory as basis for a practical joke, targeting Freyja first upon finding out that she's one of the few people still unaware of the details. Off-hand, Ernest makes his first appearance here sans his head, since it's off-camera due to his towering stature. Unfortunately, Freyja didn't really care about (much less fully understand) everything, blurting out all sorts of nonsense just to make Mikumo feel better. The most outrageous detail out of all her ramblings was becoming a jellyfish herself so that they can form the sub-unit "Yurakyure" despite the possible risk of becoming table fare at Ragunyannyan. Realizing that the gag was lost on an airhead like Freyja, Mikumo decides to seek out Mirage, as she might respond to it better. Mirage herself was given fair warning by a sneeze and Reina's direct analysis of it being a sign of someone plotting to play around with her... Act 1: Mirage's Diary 8 DeltaMT V8 07.jpg DeltaMT V8 08.jpg DeltaMT V8 09.jpg Mirage is subjected to the same practical joke as Freyja. The former takes it a little too seriously however, interpreting Mikumo's "identity crisis" as a sort of cryptic message. She does associations out loud, later coming to the conclusion that Arad's jellyfish proverbs were somehow related, rooted to something deeper and more complicated within the organization. Mikumo interrupts her train of thought, vocally acknowledging that Mirage's reaction made her a worthwhile person to prank. NOTE: The linguistic punchline is lost in translation. Mikumo's line of was misheard by Mirage as , confusing it as a code for a new type of jellyfish that has a shell. Volume 9 Act 1: Mirage's Diary 9 DeltaMT V9 01.jpg DeltaMT V9 02.jpg DeltaMT V9 03.jpg Despite being heartbroken, Mirage writes down that she is happy for Freyja. She considers the latter a dear friend and a fantastic person who deserves to be with her true love. Of course, Mirage still wonders when her special someone will come. Seemingly sensing her loneliness, Q-lulu comes up to comfort her owner. As they play around, Mirage suddenly remembers one of Arad's proverbs: People who bully Mercats are supposedly doomed to a life of misfortune. As far as her reckoning goes, Mirage was certain that she has never bullied her beloved pet; but with her current bout of misfortune, she's not so confident anymore... Act 2: Day-to-day Xaos 7 Freyja wonders aloud if Ernest is a brilliant commander with lots of victories under his belt. Hayate's curiosity was also piqued, but those in the know among the members of Walküre are well aware that it's the exact opposite. Sure enough, the Xaos captain emerges and starts to talk about his illustrious career at Hayate's "request". The Johnson family, like many other Zentradi, was a clan who thrived when it came to fighting. Ernest's father was among those who went head-to-head with the SDF-1 Macross under the command of Vrlitwhai Kridanik. In fact, the latter actually lost to Mirage's grandfather (and lived to tell the tale), but because of that, the coexistence of their races in the closing moments of the war led to the birth of a whole generation of half-Human, half-Zentradi children, and Ernest was one of them. When he came of age, Ernest allied himself with a number of forces opposing the New United Nations Government, among them the Quamzin Clan, various rogue Zentradi groups and the "Black Rainbow" faction while at the helm of his trusty Glaug. Of course, those groups were all but wiped out in the end. Ernest makes his case that it's fun fighting a losing battle, but Hayate was quick to dismiss it, saying that only people who can consistently turn the tables on a disadvantageous situation have a right to utter that line. Ernest nonetheless continues his story. In 2050, he found himself permanently unable to Macronize after an accident with a miclone apparatus, so he switched careers from front-liner pilot to spacecraft crew. It was around this time that Ernest became friends with King Gramia V (due to both men possessing the same kind of menacing eyes) and served as a tactical instructor for the Windermere forces in the years that followed. When the war of independence broke out, he left the planet despite wanting to participate as King Gramia VI did not wish to involve an outsider in their conflict. Ernest came under the employ of Xaos after that. Hayate quips that there's no way Xaos would've hired someone with a spotty record as Ernest. Arad was quick to (appear and) defend the captain, saying that being able to maintain an equal footing even though the odds are not in his favor was Ernest's strong suit, but the fact that Arad insisted this to be true twice on a row made the statement rather shaky. Ernest goes on to say that while he is indeed able to hold his own in high-stress situations, his luck always seems to run out in the end. Reina then starts to wonder if they would have better odds of succeeding in missions sans their unlucky captain. Ernest panics, imploring her not to think about that. Mikumo cuts into the conversation, declaring that Walküre's presence is enough to secure Xaos' victory for the most part, but the captain should have the courage to admit that he's the one at fault when things go south for team. Needless to say, Ernest did not appreciate that last statement. Act 3: Onward! Aerial Knights 9 Out of the blue, Keith expresses his desire to sing. Bogue gets caught off-guard by this sudden decision and surmises that it may be Keith's way to ease the burden on the Wind Singer. Keith however, doesn't confirm nor deny Bogue's guess, insisting that he wants to sing and nothing else. Roid then prepares a "Fold-Wave Amplifier Device" which is actually nothing more than an outdated karaoke system produced by the Jussila Company. Moreover, the only available song recorded in the VHS tape was Freyja's solo number, Rune ga Pika tto Hikattara. Unable to contain his outrage, Bogue protests the use of this song by the "traitor". Keith counters him, saying that since the rune is their sacred symbol, they also have the right to sing it. The Aerial Knights then gather together and perform a manly rendition of the aforementioned melody as a group, the video of which also featured a montage of their appearances in the main series. At the song's end, Hermann was about to give the ridiculous event a profound closing but Bogue promptly cuts him off. Gallery MDelta Delta Mini Theater Title.jpg|Delta Mini-Theater Main Title. MDELTA MirageDiaryTitle.jpg|Mirage's Diary Title. MDELTA OnwardAKSTitle.jpg|Onward! Aerial Knights Title. MDELTA D2DXaosTitle.jpg|Day-to-day Xaos Title. Notes & Trivia *Mirage is seen writing on a , used mostly by elementary students. Moreover, only the first two instances of the Mirage's Diary segment feature artwork stills, the ones in later episodes were entirely animated. *As shown in the related segments, the lifestyle and appliances of the Aerial Knights are depicted to be decades behind compared to other communities in the galaxy. This may be an exaggerated take on how Windermere restricts anything connected to human culture in the main story, as most of the primitive equipment is sourced from the Jussila Company. *Mirage's Walküre costume was later released as a crane game prize figure by SQ. **The image was also used as an ita-decoration for the VF-31J/c Seigfried (Hayate Use) in Macross Δ Scramble, unlockable after finishing all the Xaos missions added in Version 1.02. *The scalding water bath is one of the many publicity stunts commonly used in some Japanese variety shows. The victims are usually newbie artists in the music industry who want to promote themselves and their songs. Category:Macross Δ Category:OVAs